gdstruct - GDS - General Data Structure
A General Data Structure (GDS) is a universal, composable data structure, used to store any kind of data.
This could be for example the definition of configurations, specifications and data sets.
Typical usage is the definition of configurations, specifications and data sets.
The GDS language is a special DSL (domain specific language) for defining general data structures.
It uses a succinct, indentation-sensitive syntax which makes data representation clear and readable.
The building blocks for general data structures are hashes and arrays.
Installation
gem install gdstruct
A Short Example
require "gdstruct"
h = GDstruct.c( ":\n a val a\n b val b\n" )
# => h = { a: 'val a', b: 'val b' }
An Introduction
The GDS language uses two basic symbols (: and ,) for the creation of hashes and arrays.
A colon (:) is used to define a hash.
A comma (,) is used to define an array.
Use indentation with two spaces for the definition of elements and for nested structures. Tab characters are not allowed for indentation.
Another Example
:
caption foo
credit
images
small
url http://mywebsite.com/image-small.jpg
dimensions
height 500
width 500
large
url http://mywebsite.com/image-large.jpg
dimensions
height 500
width 500
videos
small
preview http://mywebsite.com/video.m4v
dimensions
height 300
width 400
transforms to
{
:caption => 'foo',
:credit => 'bar',
:images => {
:small => {
:url => 'http://mywebsite.com/image-small.jpg',
:dimensions => {
:height => 500,
:width => 500
}
},
:large => {
:url => 'http://mywebsite.com/image-large.jpg',
:dimensions => {
:height => 500,
:width => 500
}
},
},
:videos => {
:small => {
:preview => 'http://mywebsite.com/video.m4v',
:dimensions => {
:height => 300,
:width => 400
}
}
}
}
General Example
,
v1
: k2 v2
: k31 v31 | k32 v32 | k33 v33
k34 v34
k35 v35 | k36 v36
:
k41 v41
k42 v42
k43,
k44, 1 | 2 | 3
4 | 5
6
7
8 | 9
:k441 v441
v5
# => [ 'v1', { k2: 'v2' }, { k31: 'v31', k32: 'v32', k33: 'v33', k34: 'v34', k35: 'v35', k36: 'v36' },
{ k41: 'v41', k42: 'v42', k43: [], k44: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, { k441: 'v441' } ] }, 'v5' ]
Motivation and Features
- the focus is on the essential data
- structure and hierarchy is expressed using indentation (whitespace-sensitive) - avoids curly braces and square brackets
- uses a succinct and minimalist syntax - tries to avoid unnecessary characters
- in many cases colons, commas and quotes are not necessary
- less text makes data clearer and more readable
- for configuration and specification - replacement for XML, JSON, YAML
- for data/database seeding
- less text and less potential errors using schema definitions
- supports block comments, which could be nested
- allows also the definition of hash and array structures in a kind of restricted classic Ruby like syntax
- provides an alternative for Ruby hash and array definition without using eval(); can be used as a protection against code injection vulnerabilities, e.g. on web servers
Schema specifiers
Schema specifiers can be used to predefine the keys of a hash or subhash.
When you specify the values you no longer need to name the key for each value.
This facilitates the input for hashes and prevents typos for keys.
In combination with the pipe symbol (|), which allows to define multiple values on a single line,
this features a slim and clearly arranged, table-like style for data.
$country(name,capital,area,population,vehicleRegistrationCode,iso3166code,callingCode)
, $country /*
name capital area (km^2) population vehicleRegistrationCode iso3166code callingCode
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
: Deutschland | Berlin | 357_385 | 82_521_653 | D | DE | 49
: USA | Washington, D.C. | 9_833_520 | 325_719_178 | USA | US | 1
: China | Beijing | 9_596_961 | 1_403_500_365 | CHN | CN | 86
: India | New Dehli | 3_287_469 | 1_339_180_000 | IND | IN | 91
: Austria | Vienna | 83_878 | 8_822_267 | A | AT | 43
: Denmark | Copenhagen | 42_921 | 5_748_769 | DK | DK | 45
: Canada | Ottawa | 9_984_670 | 36_503_097 | CDN | CA | 1
: France | Paris | 643_801 | 66_991_000 | F | FR | 33
: Russia | Moscow | 17_075_400 | 144_526_636 | RUS | RU | 7
transforms to
[
{ :name=>"Deutschland", :capital=>"Berlin", :area=>357385, :population=>82521653, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"D", :iso3166code=>"DE", :callingCode=>49 },
{ :name=>"USA", :capital=>"Washington, D.C.", :area=>9833520, :population=>325719178, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"USA", :iso3166code=>"US", :callingCode=>1 },
{ :name=>"China", :capital=>"Beijing", :area=>9596961, :population=>1403500365, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"CHN", :iso3166code=>"CN", :callingCode=>86 },
{ :name=>"India", :capital=>"New Dehli", :area=>3287469, :population=>1339180000, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"IND", :iso3166code=>"IN", :callingCode=>91 },
{ :name=>"Austria", :capital=>"Vienna", :area=>83878, :population=>8822267, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"A", :iso3166code=>"AT", :callingCode=>43 },
{ :name=>"Denmark", :capital=>"Copenhagen", :area=>42921, :population=>5748769, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"DK", :iso3166code=>"DK", :callingCode=>45 },
{ :name=>"Canada", :capital=>"Ottawa", :area=>9984670, :population=>36503097, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"CDN", :iso3166code=>"CA", :callingCode=>1 },
{ :name=>"France", :capital=>"Paris", :area=>643801, :population=>66991000, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"F", :iso3166code=>"FR", :callingCode=>33 },
{ :name=>"Russia", :capital=>"Moscow", :area=>17075400, :population=>144526636, :vehicleRegistrationCode=>"RUS", :iso3166code=>"RU", :callingCode=>7 }
]
Futher Information
You will find futher information here https://urasepandia.de/gds.html
Maintainer
Uli Ramminger [email protected]
Copyright
Copyright (c) 2018 Ulrich Ramminger
See MIT-LICENSE for further details.